Initial reports of disappearance of a salvage operation regarding SCP-455 led to its classification in our databases. A research team of five members was dispatched to confirm status of civilian researchers. This team consisted of two field analysts and three security personnel. Due to the low threat level initially given to a beached cargo vessel, no direct contact was kept with this team. Team orders required one contact to their Control HQ every 24 hours. After three days of uneventful activity team failed to report in, and after two days of lost contact a secondary team was dispatched to investigate lapse in communication. This team consisted of ten standard field agents with standard gear for confrontation with humanoid aggressors.

A search of the vicinity of SCP-455 discovered encampment of the first research team in a condition that suggested an anticipated return. A rice cooker left running for several days contained heavily burnt food. Research laptops were left on and running, powered by the camp’s portable generator. An analysis of the reports on the laptop indicated minimal activity of note from the site or from SCP-455, up until the date of ceased communications. The last entry mentions recording of human voices coming from deep within SCP-455 and a departure of the team to investigate for possible missed survivors from the salvage operation.

After reporting in the state of Team 1’s camp, Team 2 was ordered to maintain constant radio contact through the remote system already on camp. What follows is an abbreviated transcript of the audio recorded during Team 2’s investigation of SCP-455 in search of Team 1.

HQ this is T2L please respond.

T2L this is HQ we have you loud and clear over.

Understood HQ, we are above deck on the vessel now. Sun is still up, we can see into the hold but not very far. Flashlights also aren’t helping matters much. We’re forgoing direct descent into the hull and are going to use the stairs to the crew decks and access it from there so we’re not separated. Is this acceptable HQ, over?

Roger T2L you have complete discretion from here forward, over. We’ve been out of contact with Team 1 for a couple days now already; a few more minutes won’t hurt them. Proceed swiftly but cautiously.

<Inconsequential Audio Deleted>

HQ, this is T2L, we’ve got an anomaly here, over.

T2L, this is HQ, what’s the situation?

We’re on deck three so far of the vessel sir, but it has taken us like, half an hour to get down this far. Something not quite right about the distance between floors for us to spend ten minutes getting between each.

Understood T2L, we suggest you send one member back up to the surface and then have him return; please update us to the elapsed time, over.

<Inconsequential Audio Deleted>

T2L here HQ, we sent up a man as advised and he returned in four minutes. Sent him back twice in a sprint, two minutes. We all recorded thirty to get down this far at least, and we all recorded our scout's return times as well. There is definitely something inconsistent.

Proceed as planned T2L, time lapses have been recorded but we see no need to abort mission over this. Please use precautions when these lapses occur and immediately try to raise us should you suspect one so we can confirm time since last contact. In addition if radio silence is encountered use utmost discretion.

T2L, please be advised we’ve been out of contact with you for sixteen hours, give or take, over.

S…Sir? That can’t be right, you were just…

Listen, I don’t know what the shit is going on out there, but this is what I want you to do. Get to the bottom of those fucking stairs, search the hold, report back as soon as you get there, and then get the fuck out, do I make myself clear?

Sir, yes sir! Out!

<Inconsequential Audio Deleted>

Sir, we’re apparently at the bottom of the ship now, five floors down by our count, standard for a cargo vessel this size. We’re approaching the hold now and…

…T2L, this is HQ… and?

Something is… odd… about the door, sir.

Details, T2L. Define odd.

Well it’s pristine, sir. The rest of the ship is something of a shit hole but this door looks like it just came out of the metal press.

Noted T2L, proceed through using maximum caution, weapons ready.

Sir yes sir! Proceeding to open the door .*background lock system can be heard disengaging* We’re looking into the hold now, sir, and moving forward.

Remaining silent for now, T2L, focus on searching the hold and getting topside.

*Background sound of door slamming closed and lock system rotating back into place.*

The fuck, did you close that? (Fainter) No, sir! It did it on its own. (T2L) What the hell… We appear to be locked in now, HQ, but we can see daylight above us, so we can probably rappel out if the door won’t… what is that? HQ, there appear to be people down here with us, estimated fifteen or so people in the corner huddled together. They look injured, we’re approaching.

We found the salvage team and the first team, they’re here and… I don’t know if they’re alive or not but they’re—

T2L? They’re what, T2L? Come in!

…Wait, where did Ramses go? He was right… Daniel! Vincent?! What the fuck… HQ come in we just lost three… no four, four members.

T2L make sense, what do you mean lost? I hear no weapons fire.

They’re just gone, sir, they were standing behind us at flank and they’re just GONE. .. Spencer? What’s… someone shine a light on Spencer… Where’d he go? Son of a bitch…

T2L, what’s going on in there?

HQ we’ve lost four men apparently, they were just at the rear of us and now they’re gone.
(unknown sound similar to sliding metal)

T2L?! T2L Respond! Respond?! Where the hell did he go now—

HQ?! COME IN HQ?!

T2L we’re here please respond.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit they responded, guys HQ responded! HQ this is Baker and I’m here with Jensen and Thomas from Team 2 sent to..

We know who you’re with Baker, we were just talking to T2L about ten seconds ago, where is—

H…HQ, we haven’t heard from you in two weeks. We’re out of rations, though we found some food in one of the crew rooms. T2L has been dead since we were in the hold. He.. he went to investigate the people in the hold, and as soon as he approached them, that hatch in the back, it flew open, made a huge noise. We all turned to look at it, then back to T2L and … he was gone, him and those people in the corner, just gone, like the others. We searched the ship, up and down, up and down but never found him…

Did you return to the surface for supplies Baker? That ship should only be five floors at mos—

We… we never thought to do that. This ship is at least thirty floors HQ, at least! But we found a crew quarters with food and we’ve been…

Baker our first team reported that ship had been ashore for at least thirty years, maybe more. What exact food did you find there that was edible?

…

Baker?

…Thirty, years?

Baker, listen closely. I want you, and whoever is left, to get topside immediately. We are dispatching a rescue team to—

(gunshot)
(gunshot)

BAKER?!

(gunshot)

…BAKER?! Come in?! What the fuck is going on over there?!

A third team of heavily armed recon units was dispatched to the SCP-455 site and investigated the cargo hold from above deck using high powered flashlights and flares. No trace of any life was in the hold, nor was there any trace there had ever been life there. Reports indicate a layer of dust and rust approximated to be an inch thick as determined by the cloud and dispersal caused by dropping of flares into the hold. Team Three was recalled and a high priority research team deployed to SCP-455 for deeper investigation as to fate of all three missing groups.

Team 3
After the failure of the first two teams dispatched to SCP-455 a third team was put together and sent. This team was composed of more veteran members with far more experience exploring and investigating sites of interest or risk. This team was composed of five persons and included an additional technician who would remain outside SCP-455 at all times to maintain communications link to the team. Unknown to Team 3, a fourth Team coded as ‘Ripcord,’ composed of five members as well, was put on standby on site approximately ten miles away. Their purpose was emergency evac of Team 3 should it become necessary, and they were to proceed to SCP-455’s site immediately after Team 3 entered it to reduce response time.

Team 3’s issued gear included two separate video recording units, one issued to the leader, T3L, and one to a video specialist, T3V. This was deemed necessary due to the lapses in time experienced during Team 2’s investigation. One member of Team 3 was instructed to enter SCP-455 through the cargo loading area directly and would be tethered to land by a pulley system.

HQ: T3L, this is HQ, we are online and receiving feeds over.

T3L: Roger HQ, this is T3L. We are preparing to enter the ship via the stairs. Evans is in position at the cargo hold.

HQ: Understood. Proceed through both entrances and move directly to the cargo hold to rendezvous with Evans.

T3V is recording his descent and all flood lights are active within the hold as well as the ones on the deck.

Team 3's primary force proceeded down the stairs into SCP-455 while its secondary unit descended into the cargo hold where Team 2 disappeared. Within three minutes of descending into SCP-455, the primary force's video feed ended. The secondary force experienced no issues at all and waited in the cargo hold under the observation of T3V, who recorded what consisted of five minutes of Evans walking in circles, dancing a brief jig, and waving up at the camera. HQ considered sending T3V to investigate the stairs, but it was decided that full attention should be paid to Evans who was within SCP-455 and experiencing no anomalous activity. During mounting concern on whether to abort or proceed with the mission, T3L's video feed returned.

HQ: T3L, respond immediately, over. We lost feed to you, what happened?

T3L: HQ?! HQ COME IN! FOR GOD… You're there.. oh god… th… this is T3L… We've lost two men… Somehow the rest of us are still alive… This place it's… it's…

HQ: T3L how much time has passed for your unit?

T3L: T..time? Ten hours sir. We came down here ten hours ago and…

HQ: Now slow down T3L. Are you in a safe location at this current moment?

T3L: Yes we… we're fine in this room… seems to be food storage…

HQ: Touch NOTHING in that room, T3L, and listen closely to me. The mission has been in progress for five minutes. Evans is in the hold… apparently doing the Hammer now… now listen, I want you to detail to me exactly what has happened and do not leave that room. Do not eat anything in that room. Take a breath, secure the entryway, and talk to me.

T3L explained that they had proceeded down twenty floors within the ship when divers have established that it can't possibly have more than six from the exterior. During this time T3V was instructed to raise Evans back out of the cargo area and secure him topside.

T3L: Okay… okay… relax… relax… okay… HQ. Okay… We proceeded down the stairs as normal. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until we noticed we had gone down far more flights than it should have taken to get to the bottom to enter the cargo area. We sent Erik up to retrace our steps and he was only able to go up two floors. We had descended at my count at least fifteen. There was no hatch back to the surface, the stairs just went up to the ceiling and ended, we could hear his every word from his location. Erik then said the hatch to that floor was open and he saw someone in it leaning against a wall. They were well within earshot of us as well, but hadn't reacted to any of our conversation…

HQ: Keep going T3L.

T3L: So… Erik… he goes through the hatch to try and figure out who this person is… they hadn't moved, hadn't shown any hostility, and according to him they weren't even looking our direction, like we didn't exist to them. Suddenly we heard gunfire so the entire team rushed up two flights and just like he said, the stairs just stopped at the ceiling and the floor hatch was open. Nobody was in that hallway, not a soul. No Erik, no second person. No bullet shells. Nothing… but the walls…

HQ: The walls?

T3L: The walls were… wrong, hazy, like you were viewing them through a gas leak. They were flowing and fluid, just wrong. I closed the hatch. I, I don't know why I didn't go in and look for Erik but I just… I felt like I couldn't. I wrote him off as lost immediately. I wasn't going in there or sending any of my men in there after him.

HQ: Understood T3L. Keep going.

T3L: So the rest of the squad, we go back down the stairs, can't go up, not going in that hallway. All the rest of the floors were closed off. We went down maybe… ten more flights… Then the stairs started changing. They were solid metal, like aluminum but now there were holes in the steps, and the metal looked rusted in some places, old. Like the rest of the ship. Up until now everything had seemed rather clean, it didn't dawn on me immediately that the clean parts were actually stranger than the old parts…

T3L: We found a food storage area down here, everything seems in good shape, but we didn't touch any of it yet… I read the Team 2 logs. I sent a man out into the hall to see what we could do on this floor. There seems to be a series of ladders in a group at the far end, but the entirety of this floor is food storage… it actually doesn't make sense why there are so many of these rooms. I'm talking over twenty on this one floor, and they're all big enough for ten people to stand inside and have room to move. Some of them are locked… probably for the best.

HQ: And the ladders?

T3L: We haven't gone down them yet. Wanted to see if we could get someone from the outside first.

HQ: DOWN? They go DOWN? What the flaming shit is going… okay… sweet Dapper Jesus of the Gentlemen's Club. Look, I don't want to put any of you at risk, but we need to find you a way out of there. If you can't go back up, and you can only go down, only send one man. T3V and Evans are topside and perfectly fine. We're sending a diving crew around the ship exterior to see if we can pinpoint your location inside it using thermal.

T3L: Understood sir.

Contact with T3L was lost after this transmission and remained disconnected for twelve hours. Divers around SCP-455 could not effectively scan the ship wreckage through thermal as the ship exhibited temperatures far higher than the water surrounding it. At sunrise, T3V and Evans were ordered to return to SCP-455 and re-investigate the ship through the cargo hold. Upon activation of the cargo lights, all missing members of Team 3 were found within the cargo hold in an apparently catatonic state; only the member Erik who went missing per the Team 3 recordings was unaccounted for. All remaining members remained in a state of stasis until removed from the ship and left undisturbed for approximately an hour. All recall moving down the mentioned ladders in the last transmission, but nothing after that point that would lead to them being in the cargo hold. Team 3 exploration ended and robotic exploration is now a viable option.